Pininfarina is boosting
its presence in China further as it has just finalised an agreement
with a regional government agency to
open a new Product Development Centre in Shanghai which
will help to boost local engineering Research &
Development for the roster of Chinese carmakers that the
Italian designer works with. As well as this strategy two
preliminary agreements, that were signed a few days ago by the
company's CEO Silvio Pietro Angori, cover future collaborations with
Tsinghua University of Beijing and Tong Ji University of
Shanghai.
“Pininfarina was the
first Italian company to provide styling and engineering
services to Chinese carmakers, back in 1996,” commented
Angori. “We have been in China for over a decade now,
with an office in Beijing that opened in the Nineties,
and our presence has contributed to the development of
highly successful models on the world’s largest car
market. The three agreements signed in the last few days
are proof of our company’s capacity to penetrate the
Chinese market, where business will increase further in
the coming years, in the fields of styling, engineering
and ecomobility.”
The first of the three
agreements regards Shanghai International AutoCity
Development (SIAD), the government agency with which
Pininfarina is committed to establishing a Product
Development Centre in the region of Shanghai, with the
goal of localising some of its engineering activities
for Chinese automotive OEMs. SIAD will support
Pininfarina during the start-up of the new Centre and in
its relations with the authorities, with customers and
with suppliers. Also in Shanghai, Pininfarina has
outlined a preliminary agreement with Tong Ji University
regarding joint personnel training activities and
research in fields that range from vehicle design
architecture to the virtual and physical validation of
prototypes.
A third agreement has been signed with the Department of Industrial Design of
Tsinghua University in Beijing and regards collaboration, for an initial period
of 3 years, in design activities to strengthen teaching and industrial input,
student training, applied research and specific projects that will simplify
academic exchanges between the Pininfarina Design and Engineering Centre in
Cambiano (Turin) and the University’s main campus. They will include applied
design projects, work experience and training programmes, joint conferences,
workshops and joint degree projects.
Since 1996,
Pininfarina has extended the scope of its activities on
the Chinese market, developing projects with a number of
manufacturers: AviChina (Hafei), Chery, Changfeng,
Brilliance and JAC. At the 2010 Beijing Motor Show there
were seven premium car models on display that were
designed and engineered for the Chinese clients
Brilliance, JAC and Chery. Among them, the restyled
Brilliance Junjie, designed and engineered by
Pininfarina, made its world debut in saloon and station
wagon versions, based on the previous versions also
designed by Pininfarina, allowing Brilliance to
establish itself as a premium brand. Other models
recently introduced on the market by Pininfarina’s
important Chinese clients included two and three-box
versions of the Chery A3 and two models for JAC (Anhui
Jianghaui Automobile Co. Ltd.): the B-MPV people-mover
and the B-Class saloon, which won awards such as the
“2009 China’s Annual Best Medium-Size Car" and the
Annual Expectation Auto Model. The 3-box A108 (Tojoy)
saloon was also designed and developed for JAC, whom
Pininfarina has been working with since 2005; this
highly successful model was the first Chinese car to win
the prestigious China New-vehicle APEAL (Automotive,
Performance, Execution and Layout) Segment Award
assigned by J.D. Power (Asia Pacific).
